Number of World’s Millionaires Increased in 2009 Despite GFC

The world’s high-net-worth individuals (HNW-I’s – defined as anyone with investment assets of at least $1 million USD excluding their residential homes) improved their financial position in 2009 despite the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).

The 14th annual World Wealth Report by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Capgemini showed that there are now in excess of 10 million HNW-I’s in the world, and furthermore, their wealth increased by 18.9% to $39 trillion USD.

Asian millionaires, led by those in Hong Kong and India, have now overtaken their European counterparts, with the total wealth of Asia’s 3 million millionaires increasing to $9.7 trillion USD, beating the $9.5 trillion USD held by Europe’s richest.

Interestingly, and perhaps helped by being one of the few industrialized nations to avoid a recession, Australia recorded one of the fastest increases, up 34.4% to 173,000 of a total wealth of $519.4 billion USD and moved Australia up in the world rankings to 10th position, overtaking Brazil.

The average wealth of Australian millionaires was $2.99 million USD, up from $2.94 million USD in 2008. However, this figure was less than the global average of $3.88 million USD. Australia moved up the world ranking to occupy 10th position, overtaking Brazil.

The US has the most millionaires (3.1 million), accounting for 31% of the global wealthy population.